Manchester City were impressive in the early kick-off as Edin Dzeko scored four times as he and debutant Samir Nasri helped Manchester City put Tottenham Hotspur to the sword with a ruthless display of attacking football.

Nasri supplied the crosses for Dzeko to score his first two goals and he also played his part in the run-up to Sergio Aguero’s strike, which made it 4-0 with half an hour to go.

Younes Kaboul headed home a consolation goal for Tottenham, who included Luka Modric in their line-up, but the afternoon belonged to Dzeko, who clinched his hat-trick by firing in from six yards before scoring his fourth, the best of the lot, a beautiful curling effort from outside the box with the last kick of the match.

Two years ago Tottenham beat City to fourth place and the London side ran Roberto Mancini’s men close for the majority of last season, but today’s result was a clear indication of how much City have progressed over the last 12 months.

Wayne Rooney walked off with the matchball, having scored his 150th Red Devils goal, then adding two more after half-time to complete his hat-trick. Yet Rooney’s efforts did not even account for half of United’s staggering tally as they scored eight for the first time since 1999.

Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young, Nani and Park Ji-Sung also found the net before Young completed the rout with his second. It was Arsenal’s worst-ever defeat against United and the first time they have conceded eight in a league game since 1896.

The result leaves Arsene Wenger staring at the biggest crisis of his 15 years at the helm. For Sir Alex Ferguson, it is pretty obvious that their main title rivals this year will be their neighbours across the city.